Truss brake-beam



(No Model.)

0. T. SCHOEN.

T muss BRAKE BEAM. No. 426,075. Patented Apr. 22, 1890.

I slim"!!! .dttorney,

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES T. SCIIOEN, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

TRUSS BRAKE-BEAM.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 426,075, dated April 22. 1890.

Application filed March 4:, 1990. Serial No. 342,659. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, CHARLES T. ScHoEN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Truss Brake-Beams, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to what is commonly known as a truss brake'beam for railroadcars, although it is better described as a trussed brake-beam. Before my invention one very common form of such trussed brakebeams has comprised a hollow or tubular brake-beam provided with a solid truss-rod connected to it at its ends and combined with it centrally by means of a cast-iron king-post or strut. In this form of brake-beam the brake-blocks and their attached shoes have extended from the brake-beam on the same side as the truss-rod, and in service it has been found that the hollow and straight brakebeam has a tendency to bow toward the truss rod, whereby its efficiency is greatly impaired, even if permanent displacement do not take place.

The object of my invention is to avoid these and other objections to the tubular trussed brake-beam and otherwise to increase the efficiency of this class of brakebeams.

The invention consists of a trussed brake beam in which the brake-beam proper is, by preference, a solid rod of about the dimensions ofthe truss-rod of the brake-beam above mentioned, combined with a truss bar or rod of wrought metal, preferably steel plate, which is curvilinear in cros. section for increase of strength, the said truss rod or bar being arranged at that side of the brake-beam oppo site to the brake blocks and shoes; and the invention also consists of a pressed steel or other metal king-post, all as I will proceed now more particularly to set forth and finally claim.

In the accompanying drawings, illustrating my invention, in the several figures of which like parts are similarly designated, Figure 1 is a sectional side elevation of a car-truck supplied with my trussed brakebeam. Fig. 2 is a plan of a portion of my trussed brake beam; and Fig. is a cross-section, on a larger scale, of the curvilinear lililSS-TOLI. Figs. 4: and

5 show in top and side view another form of king-post from that shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

a a are the wheels, Z) the axles, c the bolster, (Z the bolster-block, e the brake-levers, f the brake lever fulcrums by which the brake-levers are pivoted to the bolster-block, g the brake-blocks, and h the brake-shoes, all of any approved or usual construction.

The brake-beam constructed in accordance with my invention comprises, by preference, a solid brake-beam proper '1 to the ends of which the brake-blocks are secured in any suitable manner, the said brake-blocks, with their shoes, projecting from the said brakebeam toward the wheels. This brake-beam is provided with the brake-lever fulcrum j, projecting from it in the direction of the brakeshoes, and 7c is the brake-beam king-post, of peculiar construction, as will appear presently, and extending rearwardly from the said brakebeam. This king-post and the brake-shoes are made with sockets to receive the truss rod or bar Z, nuts 2" being applied to the ends of the brake-beam next to the brake-blocks to draw and bind the parts. This truss rod or bar, preferably, is constructed of steel plate or other wrought metal, and is, by preference, of the form of what might be properly de scribed as a double cyma-reversa molding, although other curvilinear shapes might be employed. For the sake of convenience, however, I have described this truss rod or bar as curvilinear in cross-section. By preference the crown Z of the arch of this curvilinear brake rod or bar is arranged outermostthat is to say, farthest from the brake-beam proper.

Now, a trussed brakebeam constructed with a truss-rod curvilinear in cross section, such as I have described, will resist perfectly the bowing tendency before referred to.

The king-post k is made of plate;steel or other suitable wrought metal pressed or otherwise shaped, and comprises the looped portion 7a, which forms a socket for the truss rod or bar, and in which the truss rod or bar may be secured by a suitable number of indentations 7; made in the king-post. The limbs k 71: of the king-post are twisted suificiently to bring their ends 75 into position to form the fulcrum j for the brake-lever. The necessary strength is obtained by doubling the metal of the king-post upon itself. As shown in Figs.

1 and 2, the king-post is twisted twice in order to properly place the socket and the fulcrum, while, as shown in Figs. 4 and 5, only one twist is given. This twisting also serves to render the post more rigid, and thus the better enable it to resist strain.

Some of the advantages of my construction of trussed brake-beam are as follows: The tensile strain is placed upon the straight rod instead of upon the arched or truss rod, while the compression is borne by the arched curvilinear bar. By virtue of this it is necessary to use'only about one-half of the material as compared with the former constructions in order to gain the same strength. The curvilinear or corrugated truss gives a very powerful arched bar with a minimum quantity of material. The kin g-post struck up or formed of plate-steel or like wrought metal is much lighter than cast-iron, can be produced quite as cheaply, and being under strain is better able by its strength to resist such strain.

1. A trussed brake-beam composed of a straight brake-beam proper and a truss bar or rod which isfcorrugated or curvilinear in cross-seetion, substantially as described, and

. applied to the brake-beam, substantially as set forth.

2. A trussed brake-beam having a truss barge or rod made curvilinear in cross-section, substantially as described.

3. A king-post or strut for brake-beams, constructed of wrought metal bent upon itself to form the truss-rod socket and the brake lever fulcrum, substantially as described.

7 4. A king-post or strut for brake-beams, constructed of wrought metal bent upon itself to form the truss-rod socket and the brakelever fulcrum, and twisted once or oftener between its ends to properly place the said- 

